When a trooper arrived, he discovered it was not a crash and the Bardstown officer had been shot and killed outside of his cruiser, police said. They did not say how many times the officer was shot.

"His vehicle was parked on the exit ramp with his blue lights on in a manner to prevent traffic, indicating that something was ahead," said Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin.

The slain officer, later identified as 33-year-old Jason Ellis, was in uniform and headed home from work in his cruiser when he was killed, according to state police. Investigators said they believe Ellis stopped to help someone who was pulled over when he was shot.

"We have no radio communication from him to our dispatch center, so what that means is, we don't know at this point," said McCubbin. "That's a phone call that I hoped and prayed I would never get as a chief."

WLWT News 5's sister station, WLKY confirmed that Ellis was shot multiple times with a 12-gauge shotgun. Ellis' service weapon was in its holster, suggesting the possibility of an ambush.

According to the investigation, it appears as though Ellis was shot from a downward trajectory by a gunman positioned on a nearby hill.

Ellis graduated from Glen Este High School in Withamsville, Ohio, in 1998. He is a seven-year veteran of the Bardstown Police Department. Ellis is survived by his wife and two sons.

"It's just a sad day in Bardstown," said Bardstown Mayor Bill Sheckles.

He is the first officer killed in the line of duty in the history of the Bardstown Police Department.

"We lost an officer, a family lost a son (and) a dad, and Bardstown lost a member of the community," said McCubbin.

A police spokesperson said they did not have any suspects in the officer’s death.

Ellis’ body was taken to Louisville for an autopsy. He was Bardstown’s K9 officer.

"I can assure you we won’t give up on this person until we have him either in custody or on the front side of one of our weapons," said McCubbin.

According to the University of the Cumberlands website, Ellis was a star baseball player when he attended the school and signed with the Cincinnati Reds minor league team, playing from 2002 to 2005.

The school's biography says that since becoming an officer, Ellis has twice received the Governor's Award for Impaired Driving Enforcement and also was awarded Officer of the Year in 2008.

As KSP investigates the shooting, Bluegrass Parkway at exit 34 is expected to remain closed for several hours. Drivers should use exit 42 or exit 35.

Bardstown is a city with 12,000 residents about 40 miles southeast of Louisville.

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